It is known to provide dispenser units in the front doors of refrigerators in order to enhance the accessibility to ice and/or water. Typically, such a dispenser unit will be formed in the freezer door of a side-by-side style refrigerator or in the fresh food or freezer door of a top mount style refrigerator. In either case, a water line will be connected to the refrigerator in order to supply the needed water for the operation of the dispenser. For use in dispensing the water, it is common to provide a water tank within the fresh food compartment to act as a reservoir such that a certain quantity of the water can be chilled prior to being dispensed.
Most dispenser equipped refrigerators available on the market today incorporate blow molded water tanks which are arranged vertically in lower sections of the fresh food compartments. More specifically, such a water tank is typically positioned behind a crisper bin or a meat keeper pan within a bottom section of the fresh food compartment so as to be subjected to the cooling air circulating within the compartment. Of course, locating the water tank in the bottom section of the fresh food compartment reduces the permissible size of the crisper bin and/or meat keeper. In addition, since the tank is not an aesthetically appealing feature of the refrigerator, it is generally hidden from view by a sight enhancing cover.
There are at least two commonly employed methods for attaching ingress and egress tubes to the water reservoir. One approach involves the injection molding of threaded flights of screws for use with a correspondingly threaded nut and ferrule or o-ring combination. This approach is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,511,415 (to Crowe); or U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,406 (to Hanson et al.). Another approach involves friction fitting of an elastic plastic tube over an injection molded inlet and/or outlet, with optional molded ribs. This approach is illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,739,629 (to True); U.S. Pat. No. 5,315,845 (to Lee); or U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,221 (to Senner). In order to minimize leaks with this type of connection, adjustable hose clamps are often used in conjunction with the friction fit of the elastic plastic hose.
Based on the above, there exists a need in the art for an improved method of manufacturing the water reservoir which minimizes the potential for leakage and which additionally minimizes the amount of manual intervention required to fasten the ingress (inlet) and egress (outlet) profiles of the water reservoir.